Pill injector



J. HEIDRICH PILL INJECTOR June 30, 1953 Filed July 19. 1951 VII INVENTOR`IOHN HEIDRICH ATTORNEYS Patented June 30, 1953 vUNITED STATI-:s

Mani' orifice This invention has to do with devices for inserting a pillor pellet beneath the skin of an animal or person.

As an example of the use for such a device, domestic fowl are oftentreated in one manner or another to prematurely fatten them for market.In the case of young chickens it is common to plant a hormone-containingpellet or other pill beneath the skin of the fowl for this purpose.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel instrument foraccomplishing this but useful generally for injecting a pill beneath theskin of an animal or a person.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a device orinstrument for inserting a pill or pellet beneath the skin which is easyto use and which can be readily disassembled for cleaning.

Another object is to provide a device of the type indicated embodying ahollow needle, a plunger operable within the needle for propelling apill therethrough, and novel means for feeding a supply of pills to theneedle in a manner to deliver one pill for each complete reciprocationof the plunger.

A further object is to provide novel means in' such a device forcontrolling the feed of the pills to the needle in a manner such thatwhen the plunger is retracted a pill will be fed to the needle andthereafter be held against substantial movement therein until it ismoved by the plunger thereby preventing premature delivery of the pillthrough the needle. Another object is to provide such a mechanism whichserves to agitate the pills to promote free feeding thereof.

A further object is to provide an instrument which can be readilymanufactured,

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawing and thefollowing description.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the arm of a person and the manner ofuse of the device;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of a device embcdying the invention,partly broken away;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional View of the device of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view showingthe device with the plunger extended; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the plunger retracted.

More particularly describing the invention, in Fig. l, I show the arm IIof a person using the instrument I2 of my invention. The instrumentincludes a hollow needle I4 which is sharpened at I5 tofacilitate'piercing the skin. Operable slidably Within the needle is aplunger. I1 having a nger loopll'. The plunger delivers pills P suppliedto the needle through a delivery tube I8 to which can be `connected aflexible supply tube I9 leading from a container 20 attached to thesleeve 2| of the user as by strap means 22.

The device I2 has a handle, generally indicated-by 25, which, in theform illustrated, includes two members of strip'metal. Each of thesemembers has a straight main section contiguous to the other, thesections being indicated by 2E and 21, respectively. The strips are bentto provide contiguous, laterally projecting end sections 28V and 29,apertured at 30 and 3l to receive the needle. The handle also includeslaterally oppositely projecting sections 33 and 34 which terminate inlinger-receiving bands 35 and 36. Section 34 is apertured and ttedtherein with `a bushing 31 receiving the needle.

The main sections 26 and 21 of the handle are secured together by arivet 33 some distance from end sections 28, 29. A screw 39 isthreadedly mounted in the section ZE and this is screwed against themember 21 normally to force the parts apart as shown in the drawing tocause opposite sides of the openings 30 and 3|, which are ofgreaterdiameter than the needle, to grip the needle. It will be apparentthat by loosening the screw the needle may be quickly removed from thehandle.

A somewhat elongated opening 44 is provided in the upper wall of theneedle intermediate its ends. The inlet tube I8 is mounted inthe-section 21 of the handle in any suitable manner directly aboveopening 44 in the needle. The lower end of the tube is enlarged toreceive what-I will term valve tube 46 having a flange 41 at its lowerend. A compression spring 48 is interposed between this ilange and thesection 21 of the handle. When the plunger is extended the valve tube 46rests upon the plunger as shown in Fig. 4. However, when the plunger isretracted, asshown in Fig. 5, the plunger moves downwardly and a pill Pis delivered to the needle as shown in Fig.

5. The valve tube 46 serves to hold the delivered pill from substantialmovement in the needle until the plunger is returned under the valvetube. The plunger serves to cam the valve upwardly to the position ofFig, 4 as it moves from left to right. In this connection the end of theplunger is provided with a tapered surface 5I) on its end and the ilange41 is rounded 0r beveled at 5I so that it can be cammed out of the wayreadily by engagement with the surface 50.

In order to limit retraction, the plunger is provided with a recess 52forming a shoulder 53 adapted to be engaged by a spring leaf 54 mountedin the bushing 31.

In the operation of the device a person can readily grasp the device byinserting two fingers in the finger bands of the handle and insertingthe thumb in the loop at the end of the plunger. It will be apparentthat only one pill will be delivered each time the plunger isreciprocated and that the pills delivered to the needle will each beheld in place therein against falling out until the valve tube is movedout of the way by the plunger. Also, the action of the valve tube tendsto agitate the pills in the delivery tube to promote free movementthereof in feeding.

While I have illustrated and described a pre.`

ferred form of my invention, I'contemplate that various changes' andmodifications can be made without departing from the invention, thescope of which is indicated by the following claims.

I claim:

l. An instrument for injecting pills, comprising a handle member, ahollow needle mounted on said member, a plunger supported in said needlefor axial movement therein, said needle having an opening in the sidethereof intermediate its ends, a pill delivery tube supported on saidhandle member and terminating adjacent said opening, and a spring-biasedaxially movable tubular extension forming a continuation of saiddelivery tube constructed and arranged to partially enter said needlethrough said opening therein and trap a pill delivered to said needlefrom substantial movement in said needle, said extension being movableout of said needle by` camming action of said plunger.

2. An instrument for injecting pills, comprising a handle member, ahollow needle mounted on said member, a plunger supported in said needlefor axial movement therein, said needle having an opening in the sidethereof intermediate its ends, a pill delivery tube supported on saidhandle member and terminating adjacent said opening, and a spring-biasedtubular extension mounted at the end of said tube for axial movementrelative thereto and projecting beyond said tubey said extension havingan external flange at its end, a compression spring between said handlemember and said flange, said extension being adapted to partially entersaid needle through said opening therein and being limited in itsmovement by engagement with said needle.

3. In an instrument for injecting pills having'a hollow needle with anaxially movable plunger therein, a handle means for said needlecomprising a pair of strips of metal each including a main portioncontiguous to the main portion of the other, contiguous, laterallyprojecting, apertured end sections at one end of said main portions,said sections receiving said needle, laterally and oppositely projectingsections at the other end of said main sections, one of said oppositelyprojeoting sections being apertured to receive said needle, saidoppositely projecting sections termi- 4 nating in finger-receivingbands, means securing said main sections together in a region spacedfrom said apertured end sections, and means adjacent said end sectionsfor releasably holding said main sections in sprung-apart relationwhereby to cause said apertured end sections to grip said needle.

4. In an instrument for injecting pills having a hollow needle with anaxially movable plunger therein, a handle means for said .needlecomprising a pair of strips of metal each including a main portioncontiguous to the main portion of the other, contiguous, laterallyprojecting, apertured end sections at one end of said main portions,said sections receiving said needle,

, laterally and oppositely projecting sections at the other end of saidmain sections, one of said oppositely projecting sections beingapertured to receive said needle, means securing said main sectionstogether in a region spaced from said apertured end sections, and meansadjacent said end sections for releasably holding said main sections insprung-apart relation whereby to cause said apertured end sections togrip said needle, said last-mentioned means comprising a screwthreadedly mounted in one of said main portions and adapted tobearagainst the other of said main portions.

5. An instrument for injecting pills, comprising a handle member, ahollow needle mounted on said member, a plunger supported in said needlefor axial movement therein, said needle having an opening in the sidethereof intermediate its ends, a pill delivery tube supported on saidhandle member and terminating adjacent said opening, and means on theend of said tube constructed and arranged to partially enter said needlethrough said opening therein for conducting a pill from the tube to saidneedle and for holding said pill against substantial movement thereinuntil displaced by said plunger, said means including a tubularextension on said tube mounted for limited axial movement.

6. In a device of the type described, means providing an elongatedopen-ended, pill-dispensing passage, said means having a lateral openinginto said passage, a plunger supported in said means and reciprocable insaid passage, a pill-delivery tube mounted on said means and terminatingadjacent said opening, a tubular extension mounted at the end of saidtube for limited axial movement, spring means yieldably urging saidtubular extension into said opening and partially into said passage, andinterengageable cam surface means at the inner end of said plunger andon the end of said tubular extension whereby to permit of said tubularextension being cammed out of said passage by movement of said plungerthereagainst.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wick et al Apr. 4, 1950 Number

